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Questions & Answers about Быстрый поезд едет.
What does the sentence Быстрый поезд едет. translate to in English?
It translates as “A fast train goes” or “The fast train is going.” Note that because Russian doesn’t have articles, the translation into English can vary depending on context.
Why is the adjective быстрый placed before the noun поезд?
In Russian, adjectives normally precede the noun they modify. Here, быстрый not only comes before поезд as the standard word order for descriptive phrases, but it also agrees with the noun in gender (masculine), number (singular), and case (nominative).
What does the verb едет indicate about the subject?
Едет is the third person singular present tense form of the verb ехать (to go by vehicle). Its conjugation clearly shows that it refers to a single, third-person subject, which in this case is the fast train.
Why is there no subject pronoun in the sentence?
Russian commonly omits subject pronouns because the verb conjugation already gives enough information about the subject. Since едет indicates a third person singular subject, an explicit subject pronoun is not needed.
What case are the words быстрый and поезд in, and why?
Both быстрый and поезд are in the nominative case because they form the subject of the sentence. In Russian, the nominative case is used for the subject performing the action of the verb.
How does the absence of articles in Russian affect the translation of this sentence?
Since Russian does not use articles like "a" or "the," the choice of article in English depends on context and translation preferences. This means that Быстрый поезд едет. could be translated as “A fast train goes” or “The fast train is going,” with the translator deciding based on the specific context.